Back to the Bricks tour stops in Standish

Larry Church, traveling with his wife Ruth, looks under the hood of a 1962 Chevy II Nova during the Back to the Bricks car cruise tour stop in Standish June 12.

Kevin Bunch

Nancy and Charles SeKrenes of Burton sit in their 1932 Ford Coup at the Standish Historical Depot on June 12, as part of the statewide Back to the Bricks car cruise tour.

Kevin Bunch

Classic cars are lined up at the depot as the drivers take a break for lunch.

Kevin Bunch

Tom Hudson of Corona shows off his 1963 Porsche 356.

Kevin Bunch

Janice and Ed Charrom of Flint get ready to head to Mt. Pleasant in their 1955 Chevy truck.

Kevin Bunch

Oakland County resident Ken Byrd shows off his Callaway car in front of the depot.

Kevin Bunch

Violet Couture kicks back in her 1957 GMC truck. She said she and her husband Gerry plan on making the tour again next year, adding that it had been â€śa lot of fun.â€ť

Kevin Bunch

Another group of cars makes its way into the depot parking lot, and gets some parking advice from Standish City Manager Curt Hillman.

Kevin Bunch

A 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, restored with an Art Morrison chassis and owned by Grand Blanc man Jeff Drake has its hood popped at the depot. Drake, who has been a part of the car show for years, said it started nine years ago with 350 cars, and now draws thousands of vehicles.

STANDISH â€” The Flint-based car cruise Back to the Bricks group stopped off at the Standish Historical Depot June 12 for doughnuts and refreshments during its â€śShore to Shoreâ€ť statewide cruise tour.

Steve Casmer, Vice Chairman for Back to the Bricks and a co-organizer, said the tour is in part a way to build more interest for the cruise itself, which takes place August 13-17. The route took the cruisers through cities like Hart, Cadillac, West Branch, Oscoda, and Mt. Pleasant.

â€śWe had about 150 cars, and in the neighborhood of 300 people who were part of the tour,â€ť Casmer said. â€śWe made arrangements in each city for our overnight stops, and then we have midday stops.â€ť

Casmer said the cruise tends to bring a lot of interest and money to Flint. Additionally, by having the cruisers tour around the state they are able to bring some additional revenue and interest to the people in the cities they stop off in. Aside from money brought in by the cruisers themselves, the cars can be a lightning rod to get people in the area to come out, see the cars and have a night out, Casmer said.

â€śIn Cadillac, we had probably 1,000 people, and thereâ€™s only 150 of us, so thatâ€™s a lot of people from the public,â€ť he said. â€śOscoda also had a sizable turnout. They hired a DJ and had dancing.â€ť

When the tour was looking for a place to stop between Oscoda and Mt. Pleasant, Casmer said he called the depot and spoke to Sue Stein about a place to set up a stop, as Standish was close to being the midway point between the two cities. She suggested the depot itself and arranged to have the group stop off. City Manager Curt Hillman was also at the depot to greet the groups of drivers as they came into town.